Norwegian Joy: What We Know About The Refurb

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When the Norwegian Joy was introduced just over a year ago, much was made of the fact that she had been built specifically for the Chinese market. Now that she’s being repositioned to America, the cruise line is spending $50 million on a refurb which is expected to largely eradicate many of the features which were designed to cater to the tastes of Asian cruisers. With the end result expected to make the Joy a “virtual twin” of the Norwegian Bliss, we wanted to know exactly what changes were being made. Here, best as we can tell, is what you can expect to see after the makeover.

Big Changes For The Norwegian Joy

Norwegian JoyPhoto: NCL

Of course, given that this big shake-up was only announced a few days ago and the refurb won’t take place until early 2019, things easily could change. But already, the deck plans on Norwegian’s website have been updated to reflect the changes which will be made before Joy arrives in Seattle in April 2019.

Other changes to Norwegian Joy

The Local Bar and Grill will be part of the $50M makeover.

The karaoke rooms on deck six will be replaced by a conference and card room (not to be confused with the chess and card room on the same deck), as well as part of the new photo studio.

Also on deck 6, the current atrium cafe will be replaced with a Starbucks, while the Sakura & Hibiscus (think Korean barbecue) will be replaced with the Teppanyaki found on other NCL ships.

The VIP casino — which is on a completely different deck than the regular casino — will be replaced by an entertainment venue of some sort.

Deck 7’s Joy Tea Room will become The Local (the line’s 24/7 restaurant which had been known as O’Sheehan’s until the name-change when Bliss was introduced).

What had been The Grand Tea Room on deck 8 will become the District Brew House, while Le Cave will be renamed The Cellars. Some of the high-end shopping outlets currently occupying this deck will be cleared out to make room for the Sugarcane Mojito Bar and the photo gallery.

Neptune’s Seafood Restaurant, currently across from Cagney’s on deck 8, will become the Mexican restaurant Los Lobos.

The observation deck that is currently on Norwegian Bliss.

One of the biggest changes will be on deck 15, where the Concierge Lounge and some of the accompanying staterooms will be replaced with the Observation Lounge, which was first introduced on Bliss.

The Serenity Park which currently occupies much of deck 16 is gone, replaced with more space for the sun deck as well as a stage for entertainment.

The fitness center will be relocated from deck 16 (where it appears the Mandara Spa will expand) to deck 17, replacing the Noodle Bar.

The biggest change to the Haven will involve the removal of deck 18’s Haven Casino, which will be replaced with the Haven Library (which is on the second level of the Haven Observation Lounge).

On deck 19, a sun deck which is currently located beyond the go-kart race track will be replaced with mini-golf.

Joy will move to Seattle in April of 2019 to begin doing seven-day trips to Alaska. She’ll replace the Norwegian Pearl in that market (and join Bliss as well as the Jewel, giving NCL three ships in that popular marketplace).